Viet Nam’s benchmark VN Index rose slightly yesterday as recent growth of local stocks triggered investors to sell to make some profit.

The benchmark index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched up 0.19 per cent to close at 1,050.11 points, making gains in all five trading sessions of the week with a weekly growth of 3.7 per cent.

The minor HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange fell 1.70 per cent to end at 120.76 points after increasing 0.75 per cent on Thursday.

The northern market index has gone through a volatile week, growing 1.5 per cent from the previous trading week.

The stock market was dominated by losing stocks, which outnumbered gainers by 275 to 217.

More than 490.5 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VND11.9 trillion (US$531.5 million).

Both local exchanges posted a new record high in trading value, which was up 31 per cent compared to Thursday.

Trading condition among large-cap stocks was poor as 21 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 Index declined, narrowing the growth of the large-cap index to 0.25 per cent from 1 per cent.

On the sector basis, shares of banks, energy firms, insurance companies, rubber-plastic producers and retailers were the worst-performing industries.

Those industry indices dropped between 1 per cent and 2.5 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Among those companies, Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) and Sacombank (STB) plunged 4.6 per cent each. SHB gained total 11.4 per cent in the previous four sessions while STB soared 21.7 per cent in a six-day period.

On the opposite side, real estate and securities shares were among the best gainers as investor confidence was high in those firms for their earnings prospects.

According to market strategy expert Ngo Quoc Hung at Vietinbank Securities Company, the earnings season is revealing companies that have posted big profits and plan for sustainable development.

Among real estate firms, Da Nang Housing Investment Development JSC (NDN) has estimated its net profit for the last quarter could reach VND25.5 billion and the figure for the whole last year could be VND80 billion.

The full-year net profit outpaced the firm’s target by 220 per cent. The company shares on Friday surged 5.6 per cent to VND11,300 per share.

According to Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities Company (SHS), recent market volatility signalled a strong mix among local stocks and sectors as investors attempted to offload parts of their portfolios.

Therefore, the Ha Noi-based brokerage firm forecast the market would encounter difficulties to extend its growth next week and the VN Index could move narrowly between 1,040 and 1,060 points. — VNS